UK stamp duty land tax has been dropped for properties under £175,000.

The UK government has this week introduced a number of measures to help salvage the housing market – including raising the threshold for stamp duty tax from £125,000 to £175,000.

With this decision, the government estimates half of all property transactions will now be exempt from stamp duty. Alongside this measure, a £1 billion housing package will help first time buyers struggling to get onto the housing ladder, support vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession, and support the house-building industry.

In a third step, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced new support measures to help vulnerable homeowners meet their mortgage interest payments. 

The measures were announced by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, who said: “This Government is committed to practical action to help those most affected by the current state of the housing market. We are working to make sure everyone struggling to pay the mortgage gets support and advice.

“We are giving a leg-up to first-time buyers keen to own a place of their own. And by bringing forward our investment in social housing, we are both getting more decent, affordable housing ready for people to live in sooner, and helping the house building industry weather tough times.”

The new measures offered by the government include:

• Offering 10,000 first time buyers currently frozen out of the mortgage market the chance to get onto the property ladder through a new £300 million shared equity scheme.
• Supporting up to 6,000 of the most vulnerable homeowners facing repossession to remain in their home through a £200m mortgage rescue scheme.
• £100m investment for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) reform which could help prevent a further 10,000 repossessions.
• A £400 million boost in spending power for social housing providers, including registered social landlords and councils, to deliver 5,500 more social houses over the next 18 months by bringing funding forward.
• Working with Regional Development Agencies to support the most critical regeneration schemes with the most potential to transform their communities.

For more information, visit: http://www.communities.gov.uk